Building on these gains, plans are under way to accelerate Midas’ tire-service expansion significantly in the next two years, with upgrades in distribution, computer support, shop signage and more.
“We are hopeful that the increased emphasis on tires will transform Midas over the next two years and position us for more cars, customers, sales and profits,” Mr. Gould said.
In 2012 when TBC bought Midas, tires made up less than 10 percent of the stores’ sales volume, according to publicly available data at that time. The average U.S. franchised shop had sales of $672,000 that year, the company said then.
There are more than 1,500 Midas locations throughout the U.S. and Canada, so even an incremental increase in tire sales by each franchisee potentially could yield measurable dividends.
TBC also is looking to expand the Midas brand in Quebec beyond Montreal into communities like Quebec City, Drummondville and Trois-Rivières.
Midas has been present in the Montreal metro market for more than 45 years, with 18 locations active and run by 15 franchisees. TBC said it is looking for franchisees to open multiple locations in the coming two years in the targeted metro areas.
There are 156 franchised Midas locations across Canada, TBC said, predominantly in Ontario, where roughly a third are located.
TBC also reported earlier this year that its Big O Tires network reported gains in the number of franchisees, stores, retail tire and service sales and customers served in 2015.
During 2015, TBC welcomed six new franchisees into the Big O network and noted a net gain of 14 Big O locations throughout the year.
Overall, the Big O network collectively reported 5.5-percent better retail sales last year vs. 2014, the company said, with tire unit sales up 3.3 percent and same-store service sales up 6 percent.
TBC is considered the largest vertically integrated marketer of tires for the North American automotive replacement market, with more than 3,200 franchised and company-operated tire and automotive service centers, nine proprietary tire brands and more than 50 retail and wholesale distribution centers.
Collectively, TBC claims this equates to nearly 10 percent of all aftermarket tires sold in North America.